Antisemitism stoush to dominate parliament as government blacklists white supremacist channel

A white supremacist online network will be slapped with unprecedented counter-terrorism sanctions by the federal government, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces a parliamentary grilling from the opposition over whether he was kept in the dark about an apparent major antisemitic plot in Sydney.

As they probed a new spate of antisemitic graffiti attacks in Sydney, and the egging of female joggers at Bondi Beach, NSW Police refused to comment on Sunday on an unproven theory floated by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that they had declined to share the discovery of a caravan packed with stolen mining explosives with the prime minister’s office because they feared leaks to the media.

Dutton said he found it “astounding” and “inconceivable” that NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police might not have informed Albanese about the apparent plot to target a Sydney synagogue before the news broke on Wednesday.

Randwick council cleaners remove antisemitic graffiti from a car on Sunday after a spate of attacks on houses and vehicles in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Albanese has refused to answer questions about when he learnt about the explosives discovery, saying: “I do not talk about operational matters for an ongoing investigation.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Sunday night that the government had imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on the white supremacist network Terrorgram as part of its efforts to combat antisemitism.

The US State Department in January branded Terrorgram, which operates primarily on the Telegram social media site, a terrorist group, accusing it of facilitating attacks including a 2022 shooting outside an LGBTQ bar in Slovakia, a planned attack in 2024 on energy facilities in the US state of New Jersey and an August knife attack at a mosque in Turkey.

Wong said it would now be a criminal offence to use or deal with the assets of the platform, with breaches punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and heavy fines.

It is the first time the government has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on an entity based entirely online.

Four other extremist entities – National Socialist Order, the Russian Imperial Movement, Sonnenkrieg Division and The Base – were re-listed for counter-terrorism financing sanctions.

“This demonstrates the Albanese government’s commitment to disrupting the activities of terrorists and violent extremists and preventing them from recruiting and radicalising people online,” Wong said. “There is no place in Australia for antisemitism, hatred or violence.”

Parliament will resume this week after a two-month break for what could be the final sitting fortnight before the federal election, with the government planning to attack Dutton for saying on Sunday he would not announce details of planned spending cuts until after the election.

As it abandons efforts to pass environmental protection laws in this term of government, Labor will seek to burnish its cost-of-living credentials by rushing forward legislation to grant families three days a week of subsidised childcare.

The government’s move to introduce the bill into parliament this week rather than after the next election, as originally planned, will put pressure on the Coalition, which has said it will oppose Labor’s push to scrap the requirement to have a job, be looking for work or be in study to receive childcare subsidies.

The opposition will be able to use parliamentary question time to probe Albanese on when he learnt about the caravan plot.

Speaking on ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday morning, Dutton again raised questions about when Albanese was notified about it.

“If the prime minister of our country is not across what was potentially the biggest terrorist attack in our country’s history essentially until the public found out about it, I think that is an absolute abrogation of his responsibility,” Dutton said.

He continued: “I suspect what has happened here, if I’m being honest, is that the NSW Police have been worried about the prime minister or the prime minister’s office leaking the information, which is the only explanation.

“Otherwise, it’s inexplicable that the premier of NSW would have known about this planning, this likely terrorist attack, with a 40-metre blast zone, and he’s spoken to the prime minister over nine days but never raised it, never discussed it.”

Detective Superintendent Darren Newman, the head of NSW Police’s Strike Force Pearl, refused to comment when asked about Dutton’s claims on Sunday afternoon.

Newman said police were investigating three potentially linked incidents that they were treating as antisemitic attacks in the city’s east on Saturday night: the discovery of a Mazda with its engine still running and a jerry can and two cartons of eggs on the back seat in Rose Bay; the egging of five young women near Bondi Beach; and antisemitic graffiti sprayed in multiple locations in Randwick and Kingsford.

“There are a number of matters that we’re looking at in terms of some similarities around timings and types of vehicles used,” Newman said.

He said the latest incidents were not linked to the explosives-laden caravan, although he said they could be copycat attacks.

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies called for stronger penalties for the “despicable” graffiti, saying it was perpetrated for the “sole purpose of intimidating and terrorising the Jewish community and destabilising Sydney’s social harmony”.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said Dutton “should be condemned” for politicising the issue of antisemitism by pressuring Albanese to reveal whether he was briefed about the apparent plot before it was revealed to the public.

“I think this is a ridiculous criticism from Peter Dutton and just shows that all he wants to do is play politics with what is a really serious issue,” she told Sky News.

Labor released a new advertisement on Sunday accusing Dutton of opposing key cost-of-living relief such as the overhauled stage three tax cuts, cheaper medicines and pay rises for aged care and childcare workers.

Rishworth confirmed the government had pulled plans to legislate a new federal environment protection agency, after its “nature positive” legislation came under intense criticism from the West Australian Labor government.

“I think it’s clear that we won’t be able to pursue this piece of legislation in the parliament,” Rishworth said, accusing the Coalition and the Greens of failing to negotiate responsibly with the government.

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said: “It is extremely disappointing that rather than doing the right thing by nature, standing up for our great forest, protecting our koalas, the prime minister has again caved to the vested interests of the WA mining industry and Gina Rinehart.”

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